ANDREW CLARK, GUARDIAN, UK - The world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart,
stands accused of routinely flouting its workers' human rights through a
sophisticated strategy of harassing union organizers, discriminating
against long-term staff and indoctrinating employees with misleading
propaganda. In a forensic indictment based on two years' research, the
Washington-based pressure group Human Rights Watch lifts the lid on
Wal-Mart's aggressive tactic of stamping on the slightest sign that
workers are organizing representation.
Evidence includes examples of workers forced into unpaid overtime and an
alleged strategy of squeezing out long-serving staff who are more costly
than low-wage, temporary, younger workers.
It reveals that Wal-Mart . . . has elaborate tactics to stop staff from
coming together to fight for better conditions. The company is accused
of focusing security cameras on areas where staff congregate and
shifting around loyal workers in "unit packing" tactics to ensure votes
for union recognition are defeated.
American store bosses get a "manager's toolbox" - a manual which openly
describes itself as a guide on "how to remain free in the event union
organizers choose your facility as their next target".
They are told to phone a special "union hotline" if they suspect staff.
Teams of union busters are then sent from Wal-Mart's Arkansas
headquarters who regale workers with vitriolic presentations on the
perils of unionization. . .
Healthcare programs are often limited to "catastrophic coverage" for
accidents and emergencies, rather than preventative medicines. The
company faces the biggest class action lawsuit in US history in which
1.5m women claim the company discriminated against female staff in pay,
promotions and assignments.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/01/877/
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stands accused of routinely flouting its workers' human rights through a
sophisticated strategy of harassing union organizers, discriminating
against long-term staff and indoctrinating employees with misleading
propaganda. In a forensic indictment based on two years' research, the
Washington-based pressure group Human Rights Watch lifts the lid on
Wal-Mart's aggressive tactic of stamping on the slightest sign that
workers are organizing representation.
Evidence includes examples of workers forced into unpaid overtime and an
alleged strategy of squeezing out long-serving staff who are more costly
than low-wage, temporary, younger workers.
It reveals that Wal-Mart . . . has elaborate tactics to stop staff from
coming together to fight for better conditions. The company is accused
of focusing security cameras on areas where staff congregate and
shifting around loyal workers in "unit packing" tactics to ensure votes
for union recognition are defeated.
American store bosses get a "manager's toolbox" - a manual which openly
describes itself as a guide on "how to remain free in the event union
organizers choose your facility as their next target".
They are told to phone a special "union hotline" if they suspect staff.
Teams of union busters are then sent from Wal-Mart's Arkansas
headquarters who regale workers with vitriolic presentations on the
perils of unionization. . .
Healthcare programs are often limited to "catastrophic coverage" for
accidents and emergencies, rather than preventative medicines. The
company faces the biggest class action lawsuit in US history in which
1.5m women claim the company discriminated against female staff in pay,
promotions and assignments.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/01/877/
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